Acoustic methods for high-throughput protein crystal mounting at next-generation macromolecular crystallographic beamlines

J Synchrotron Radiat. 2013 Sep;20(Pt 5):805-8. doi: 10.1107/S0909049513020372. Epub 2013 Aug 8.

Abstract

To take full advantage of advanced data collection techniques and high beam flux at next-generation macromolecular crystallography beamlines, rapid and reliable methods will be needed to mount and align many samples per second. One approach is to use an acoustic ejector to eject crystal-containing droplets onto a solid X-ray transparent surface, which can then be positioned and rotated for data collection. Proof-of-concept experiments were conducted at the National Synchrotron Light Source on thermolysin crystals acoustically ejected onto a polyimide `conveyor belt'. Small wedges of data were collected on each crystal, and a complete dataset was assembled from a well diffracting subset of these crystals. Future developments and implementation will focus on achieving ejection and translation of single droplets at a rate of over one hundred per second.

Keywords: X-ray diffraction; acoustic droplet ejection; conveyor belt; crystal mounting; high throughput; macromolecular crystallography.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Crystallography, X-Ray / instrumentation*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray / methods*
  • Data Collection
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Synchrotrons

Substances

  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Proteins